Something More
by Addie May
Summary: Takes place in the episode "The Waterbending Scroll". After being captured by the pirates, Katara is saved by Zuko. He says it's to lure in the Avatar, but is it something more? Rated T just to be safe, and for incredibly random make-out scenes... Beware: I only have inspiration to write if you review!
1. My Apologies

Okay, so I've decided to completely start over with this fanfiction. I haven't updated in over a year, and I feel like everyone's all but forgotten about it. But, have no fear! I will actually be faithful this time and update at least every two weeks – if not more often. Thank you all for your understanding and lovely reviews.

I'm putting this up for a little bit, and then I'll take down my previous chapters and begin posting the new ones. I'll have everything written beforehand so I don't disappoint again!

Sincerely,

Addie


	2. Capture

**Something More: An A:TLA Fan Fiction. **

**Rating: T for suggestive scenes and mild language**

**Word count: 1,786**

**Author: Addie May**

**A/N: I actually feel a little bad about starting this whole thing over, but I felt like the plot was moving too quickly, and we needed a little bit of background on Katara. I realize that the way I write will make them a bit out of character, but I want them to have a different perspective for my story. Don't worry, all the same plot structure will be there, but I need to slow down the romance and let it flow into place. **

**Enough chat; enjoy my *revised* writing!**

Snow.

Snow was all I had ever known. Snow was safe and comforting. It meant home. It meant a place I was safe, and a place I was untouchable. I had never left the safeness of snow, and I never intended to.

Then Aang showed up.

Many months have passed since Sokka and I left the Southern Water Tribe, and our safe, homely snow. Aang was welcoming and always stirring up some sort of chaos wherever we went, but it was still an incredible adventure to travel with the Avatar.

"You _stole_ it?!" Sokka yelled. I covered his mouth with my hand.

"Oh, come on! Where do you think those pirates got it? They stole it from a waterbender! So, really, I'm just taking back what's ours," I reasoned. I looked to Aang for assistance. "Don't you agree?"

"Well…" He said skeptically. "We do need it."

So, yes, I had taken the scroll. So what? Aang and I both needed to learn some bending and what better than a waterbending scroll? I knew Aang wouldn't be against it, and the pirates hadn't really noticed… Well, I suppose they had, but we all still got away safely.

"Aang! You can't seriously be okay with using a _stolen_ scroll, can you?" Sokka said accusingly. Aang shrugged.

"I mean, I guess it isn't a good thing, but we have it. We might as well use it," he said. I smiled triumphantly and Sokka waved a hand dismissively.

"Whatever; just don't get me wet," he sighed, sulking off to the campsite.

"Alright, Aang," I grinned. "Let's get down to business."

Later that night, I decided I wanted to try and practice with the scroll. Although I had told Aang I wanted nothing to do with it, its allure was too strong for me to ignore. I had always yearned to know proper waterbending techniques, and I finally had the information right at my fingertips. An opportunity like that can't be ignored.

I pulled the scroll silently out of Sokka's bag, and make my way to the water's edge.

"Ugh!" I yelled. For the fifth time, the stream of water splashed hopelessly back into the river. "Come on, water! Work with me here!" I groaned. It was futile. I wasn't going to be able to bend it how I wanted to. "Stupid scroll," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. Once I had calmed down a bit, I took a deep breath, and tried again. The water collapsed. _Damn it! _I thought._ This will _never _work!_

"Okay, Katara. Shift your weight through the stances," I told myself, carefully trying to bend the water to my will. It fell in a messy ring about my feet. "Damn!" I murmured. A loud crash of metal snapped my concentration. I turned and peered through a thin cover of brush to find a ship. It was a Fire Nation ship.

I started to run back to camp, when a large, burly man grabbed my shoulders. "No!" I yelled. "Let go of me!" I bent the water from the river to temporarily stun him. He released me, and I sprinted to grab the scroll.

A pair of burning hot hands grasped my wrists, singeing them. "I'll save you from the pirates," a familiar voice sneered. Hot breath blew across my face, and I shut my eyes tightly.

Zuko.

"Let me go!" I cried, tugging away from him. The skin on my wrists burned. I yelped in pain, and clenched my hands into fists.

Zuko dragged me over to a tree, and bound my hands to it. I was defenseless.

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother," Zuko sneered, a hard look plastered to his face.

Hatred and anger overwhelmed me. "Go jump in the river!" I yelled.

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Try to understand," he began, a false smile forming on his lips. "I need to capture him to restore something I've lost – my honor," he circled around the tree so he was whispering into my ear, his reeking breath splaying out across my skin. "Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something you've lost."

He held something up to my neck, and it glinted smartly in the moonlight.

"My mother's necklace," I breathed, surprised beyond belief. "How did you get that?" I spat, realizing he must have stolen it. He probably thought he could bribe me to get to Aang, but I would never be so utterly careless.

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering," Zuko smirked, moving from behind me. He stood in front of me, surrounded by a band of pirates. Specifically the band of pirates I had stolen the waterbending scroll from. "Now, tell me where he is!" Zuko demanded once again.

"No!" I continued to resist, determined to not let him have his way.

One of the pirates stepped forward. He wore a dark red dashiki and a sailor's hat, as well as a colorful reptile bird on his shoulder. "Enough of this necklace garbage," he said in a rough, grainy voice. "You promised the scroll," he fisted his hand and creased his brow, almost as if in a challenge.

Zuko grinned and pulled the scroll out from behind his back. _How did he get that? I thought I had in my pocket,_ I thought, confused. "I wonder how much money this is worth…" Zuko lit a flame underneath the scroll, threatening to burn it.

"No!" The pirates yelled. The way they reacted was almost comical.

"A lot, apparently," Zuko chuckled darkly. "Now, you help me find what I want, you'll get this back, and everyone goes home happy." His smirk dissipated into a sneer. "Search the woods for the boy and meet back here."

The pirate scoffed, but turned around to face the woods. "Fine." Another one of the pirates eyed me curiously, and I quirked an eyebrow at him. He grinned lazily as if he had decided on something.

"What about her?" He asked Zuko. "Where does she fit into all of this?"

Zuko's eyes flickered with something I couldn't decipher. "She'll come with me back to the Fire Nation as a prisoner."

"Why can't we take her as a prize? You can have that boy, but what is a peasant useful for in the Fire Nation?" The pirate grinned sickeningly. I cringed. Going with Zuko would be almost enjoyable compared to going with the pirates.

"She will be my prisoner, and that's final. My mind is made," Zuko said. I was confused as to why he was being so firm about this. Zuko shouldn't have cared about my fate at all. He hated me.

"Well, I think we can negotiate, can't we?" Another pirate joined the first, grinning the same sickly grin. I couldn't bear to imagine what was going through their heads.

"No! She is staying with me," Zuko said fiercely. I was almost cheering him on at this point.

"What's the big deal? She's just a commoner. She'll do you no good in the Fire Nation," the second pirate reasoned. The first nodded in agreement.

"If she is of no use for me, then why do you want her?" Zuko asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Dear boy, isn't it clear?" A third joined. _No, no! I _won't_ go with them! I _won't_!_ I thought. I started to panic. What if I was forced onto a ship with them? What would I do? _Zuko, don't let them take me!_ I thought frantically, a pleading look of fear obvious on my face. None of the men saw it, and my emotions were completely out of consideration.

"We will have to refuse to comply with your demands," an older man said. He was pudgy and non-threatening, and his voice was calm and soothing. "I will not stand for you to so plainly disrespect a strong, young woman such as her," the man smiled knowingly in my direction. This man seemed to be the only one to really take my well-being into account. I silently thanked the spirits for his presence.

"She's a peasant! There is no disrespecting her; she is not worthy of respect," one of the pirates sneered, spitting on my shoes. I cringed, and shut my eyes tightly.

I'm not quite sure what happened then, but whatever it was, it unbound my wrists from the tree. I was stunned for a moment, and then understood. This was my chance to get the hell out of there.

I started to run. I wasn't sure where, but I realized I was going towards the river. I was a fast swimmer, and a quick dip to the other side would be my ticket away from the pirates. As I was about to plunge under the surface, a hand caught my forearm.

"Where do you think you're going?" A voice snickered. I turned to see a pirate with a green sari and a matching headband. His eyes glinted evilly, making a shiver travel up my spine.

"Get away from me!" I shouted, using my free hand to bend water into his face. He seemed unfazed by my attempts, and wrapped his arms securely around my waist. "No! Put me down!" I shrieked. It was purely out of fear, and I knew any bit of pleading or begging would do me no good.

The pirate chuckled and carried my squirming form onto the hull of a wooden ship. As a door was closing, Zuko looked up from where he stood outside of the ship, fighting off the pirates. I reached a desperate hand out to him, and he almost looked…afraid.

The door closed, and as did any chance of my rescue.

I was left at the beck and call of the pirates.

**A/N: Well, that took me longer to write than expected. I hope you all enjoyed my first revised chapter, and you can look forward to more! If you review, I have another chapter to release by this time next week. **

**- Addie**


	3. Nightmares

**Something More: An A:TLA Fan Fiction**

**Chapter Two: Nightmares**

**Rating: T for suggestive scenes, mild language, and violence**

**Word Count: 1,787**

**A/N: As promised, another chapter! I promise this one will be longer, and a little more eventful. I'll throw in some background information for Katara and Sokka, and a little bit of KatAang (it's only needed for plot development, don't worry). Enjoy!**

When I was little, my father used to tell Sokka and me stories of his travels. I would hear about how he and Bato had single-handedly fought off a platypus bear in the wilderness of the Earth Kingdom, or how they had taken a fleet of Fire Nation ships with only a spear and seaweed. Everything was so fantastical and adventurous that I hardly believed them to be true.

Once, my father had spoken of a ship of pirates. He traded with them, but they had tried to fight my father's crew to pillage their ship of fine goods. Of course, my father fought them off and they only got away with a map or two. Sokka had thought it to be a boring story because there were no battle scars or decapitated heads to prove the event. I, myself, had thought the pirates were stupid and weak to have tried to fight my father.

I now had a completely different view of pirates.

Disgusting and vile is what they were. No sense of hygiene or cleanliness; and not the slightest bit of respect. Their eyes shone with a criminal intent, and their hands were rough and calloused.

/

I was carried by those calloused hands into a room that was old and dirty. It was dark and damp, and had a leak in one of the corners. The pirate carelessly dropped me down onto the cold wooden floor, and smirked knowingly.

"You're to stay in here, and not leave. Not that you really have much of a chance escaping," he chuckled as he shut the door behind him. I was alone, now. Being alone meant I had time to think.

_Alright, Katara; how can you get out of here? _I asked myself. I glanced around the room, looking for some sort of opening. There was none, of course.

_Okay, no easy way out. Maybe there's water. _I thought._ That's exactly what I need; water!_ I found a pool of it in the corner with a leak. Thank the spirits!

I only knew a few moves, but I could probably manage to break down the door. I focused all of my energy on what I needed to do. _"Shift your weight through the stances,"_ I heard Aang's voice echoing in the back of my head. All concentration was broken.

I no longer had Aang with me.

I slumped down onto the ground, curling in myself. Aang was someone I trusted my life in; someone I went to for refuge. Now, I had only my memories to call him by. He was a light, comforting presence to have, and now he was gone.

"I'm going to get out of here," I whispered to myself. I had to. _For Aang._

My hands seemed to move of their own accord, gracefully flowing through each movement. I hadn't known that such a form existed. The water from the corner of the room began to quiver, and was soon streaming around me. A thin bead of sweat formed on my brow, and my legs started to shake with the intense power that pulsed through my veins. I – as carefully as I could – moved with the water to the door, and gently started to bend the water through the keyhole. Maybe I could unlock it.

Just as I heard the door begin to creak open, footsteps came from down the hall. I start to panic, and I push open the door, beginning to run out of the room. A pirate who I didn't recognize was passing my room, and caught sight of me. "Hey!" He yelled, chasing me as I raced to some unknown location. I was hoping to find the upper deck, but I had no idea where to go.

Scrambling frantically up a flight of crooked stairs, I found myself at an unlocked, half-open door. The pirate chasing me was right on my back, so I took the risk and entered the room.

/

"Well, hello," an unnerving voice cooed from the back of the room. It was female, with a slight accent of a land I couldn't recognize.

I had mistakenly walked into not the outer deck, but someone's private quarters. I was halfway ashamed and halfway relieved. This was the only girl I had encountered on the ship, and I thought maybe she would help me out of here.

"H-Hello?" I answered timidly. I glanced behind me. The door had shut, and the pirate that had been pursuing me had probably done so.

"You must be the newest recruit to our crew," the voice came slightly nearer, but in the gloom I couldn't see even an inch in front of me. "I am Leyte. I have been travelling with these men ever since I was just a little child." Finally, this mysterious Leyte flicks on some sort of light.

The first thing that I noticed was her eyes. They were as blue as the sea, but also with a strange tint of a color that was almost violet. She wore a green dashiki down to her knees, but it was so mud-caked and torn that I was only assuming the color. Her hair was short and looked as if it was chopped off carelessly, but it still had a lovely chocolate color. It looked recently washed and soft, so she was not in poor hygiene.

Leyte's face may have been what caught me off guard.

She possessed finely sculpted cheekbones and ebony skin, as well as rosy cheeks and a knowing smile. Not a blemish or scar was in sight, and to say the very least, she was absolutely beautiful. I was nearly jealous.

Her hands, which looked delicate and frail at first glance, were actually strong and somewhat calloused; which I found when she reached out and took my hands in hers.

"Oh, child," she fretted. "You have been on a long and winding road that is only beginning." Her voice sounded far away and dreamy, as if she was thinking about something that was happening in her head.

"Ex-Excuse me?" I said, my voice trembling.

"Do not be afraid of me," Leyte said strongly, her accent making it difficult to understand her. "I am what the pirates call a _Seer_. I help them on their journeys so that they may know what is in store for them."

"A Seer?" I asked to no one in particular. "You mean, sort of like a fortune-teller?"

Leyte laughed; a sound of peeling bells. "Well, maybe it could be put like that. I do not believe anyone has ever referred to me as a 'fortune-teller.'"

I smiled softly, but another question was weighing heavily on my tongue. "How exactly did you get here, Miss Leyte?"

Her expression turned grim and any jovial kindness she had disappeared. "I was taken from my home, dear child. I used to live in the Earth Kingdom; in a smaller town that few people lived in, called Huan-yue. My family had seven children in it, and my parents were always out scything the fields to make enough money to support us. I was the eldest, so I took care of my younger siblings and never finished any education in earthbending, which I once was very good at. Now, however, I forget any forms I had ever been taught.

"It was about noon, and I was fishing at the docks for dinner. My six sisters and brothers were back at out home preparing for the meal, so I was alone. I saw a ship in the distance, and thought I was mistaken, for no ships ever came into port at Huan-yue. I stood up and peered out to the water, and found that a ship actually was on its way into town. My first instinct was to run and protect my sisters and brothers, but I was too in shock to move, and I stayed put. As the ship came closer, I noticed the flag that was flying on the top of the mast," she paused, and seemed to compose herself before going on. "It was the same one they have flying now; a reptile bird with crossed bones underneath it. That was when I started to run back to home, but the ship was close enough to capture me in a net trap that came from a weapon inside. I was their prisoner.

"The weeks and months went by, and at first, I would seek escape whenever possible. Once, I even made it to a Fire Nation shore, but the pirates caught up with me. Then, I began to accept that this is my life, and I will never leave. This ship is my home, and it will have to be yours, too, young waterbender," Leyte said solemnly.

"No!" I shouted. "No; I will not be kept here! I'm getting out, and I'm going back to Aang!" I yelled, more for myself than to Leyte. I sprinted away to the door, expected Leyte to stop me, but she didn't. I flung myself out the door and up another flight of stairs. I was running, running up and down and across corridors and through doors and eventually finding myself dizzy with defeat. That was when I fell unconscious.

/

"Aang?" I called. I was in the middle of a forest, my back aching from lying on the ground. It was dark and cold, and very alone. "Sokka, Aang?" I called again. No answer. A hand grabbed my robes from behind me, and writhing and kicked and screamed until they let me go. When I turned around, Avatar Roku stood there, his eyes glazed over. "R-Roku?" I said timidly. His mouth opened, but out came Leyte's voice.

"Child, you must accept your fate. You will never leave. You will never leave," Roku repeated those words over and over, and he wouldn't stop. _You will never leave, you will never leave…_

I awoke on a pallet back in the room I had been thrown in earlier that day, my back coated in sweat and my heart racing.

That was the first of many nightmares on that ship.

**A/N: Alright, guys! Hope you enjoyed it, and there will be another one up by this time next Friday! Oh, and before I forget, Leyte is supposed to be Jamaican, so her accent is kind of like that. :) **


	4. Missing

**Something More: An A:TLA Fan Fiction**

**Chapter: Missing**

**Word count: 1,734**

**Rating: T for some suggestive scenes and mild language**

**A/N: So, I'm not sure you guys are even reading my notes, but that's okay, because I never read them when reading fan fictions. (: But, those of you hipsters reading this, I'm making this chapter from Zuko's P.O.V., just to give my story a bit more interest and to prolong it. So, here you are! Enjoy!**

**- **Zuko's POV **-**

_ I am a royal idiot._

_ I shouldn't feel as strongly about this as I do, should I? My father and all of my people would be disgusted with me if my thoughts could be shared. I have to forget everything that's happened and simply work on finding the Avatar. _

_ Yes, I just have to find the Avatar. But, what about the girl? She's being used for terrible things… I can't let it get to me!_ _Focus, damn you._

Katara. That was her name. She was weighing so heavily on my mind that it was almost ridiculous. She wouldn't leave my thoughts, my dreams, and my very soul. She was holding onto my heart and not letting go. The look of terror on her face when the ship door closed; it was heartbreaking to me. I should have been rejoicing that the Avatar's waterbending teacher had been evicted from his life, but I was mourning the fact that she was being taken away.

Perhaps it was why she was being taken. I considered that quite often. She was being taken as a plaything for filthy pirates, and my uncle had always taught me of respecting women and their virtues. It was only in my nature as a Fire Nation gentleman to be concerned for her well-being.

I turned back to the task at hand: I was writing a letter to my father – not that he ever replied back to me. I knew he read them and had them displayed to my sister and the rest of his inner court. He loved to share with his companions the failure of his son. Personally, I couldn't care less if those around my father thought me a disgrace, but the one thing I needed was for my father to understand me. He had to know how desperately hard I was trying to gain my honor again.

_But what am I saying? Father hates me, no matter how many things I accomplish._

As the day came to an end and the meager light streaming in through the window dimmed, I set down my brush and ink, rolled up the letter, and tied it to the leg of my messenger-hawk. "Bring this to the Fire Nation palace," I instructed. "Quickly." The bird soared out of the window, leaving me alone in my quarters.

I crawled onto my mat, and pulled a blanket to my chin. It wasn't too cold – I was a firebender, so I was never cold anyways – but I suppose the blanket was just force of habit. My eyes shut tightly, and tried my best to let sleep consume me.

/

Three hours later and it was two in the morning. _No luck in sleeping, again,_ I thought. The fear in _her_ eyes was too invasive on my subconscious, and if I slept, I would dream, and I would only dream of her.

So, I resigned myself to staying at my desk and aimlessly singeing strips of parchment through the night.

In the morning, I found myself groggily sitting up from my desk chair. I had fallen asleep at some point, and now my back ached from sleeping upright. I checked the window, and the sun was at its highest point. Uncle would be angry with me for skipping breakfast and my morning training again.

_Damn it, I always wake up so late,_ I thought as I shuffled to my wardrobe to dress. _Maybe Uncle forgot about my lessons, and won't bother me about it…_ I heard a slow procession of footsteps coming down the hall, and knew that I was wrong in my hopes.

"Prince Zuko," my uncle's voice resounded outside. "You are late again. Today, I will have to drill you twice as hard as you have disrespected me by missing your morning lesson. Do you not wish to learn proper firebending?"

"Uncle, I apologize. I didn't rest well," I explained, opening the door and inviting him in. His tired, old frame settled into my desk chair that had held me all night, and he sighed.

"You need to find a way to rest, nephew. A man needs his rest."

"I know," I nodded.

"Is this for the reason I believe it is, Prince Zuko?" Uncle asked me, raising a suspicious eyebrow. I gulped. He knew that I was dreaming about her, and that I couldn't control my dreams. I hadn't told him, but he always just _felt_ these things.

"Probably, but I can get though it, Uncle," I assured him. "I will forget about it easily after we capture the Avatar to restore my honor."

Uncle sighed. "Yes, Zuko; now, let us go an practice your bending."

/

I slumped into the hot water gratefully, my muscles relaxing and unwinding. The drill session had been arduous, as Uncle had promised. My eyes closed and my mind numbed. _Ah, this is perfect. Almost like the hot springs back…home._ I couldn't think straight for the life of me, so I was sitting in the hot bath water for about an hour before it started to chill enough for me to start washing.

As I was doing so, _she _flashed through my mind. She was a waterbender, and here I was, bathing in her element. _She probably hasn't bathed in days. She must miss her water,_ I thought. My eyes glazed over slightly as I thought of her, dirty and alone on the ship, her scared eyes flashing to a locked door and her hands tied behind her back. I shivered.

_Damn it, Zuko! Stop thinking about it; she isn't worth your worries._

No matter how much I tried, I couldn't stop thinking of her. The thing that stuck with me the most was her eyes – her brilliant, terrified blue eyes. I could almost _feel_ them watching me, asking frantically for safety and rescue. The safety and rescue I was unable to provide in her one time of need. What kind of person was I? I couldn't help her the only time she had ever reached out to me for aid.

I decided then, in that moment – however awkward the setting – that I would save her – save Katara – from those pirates. She could rely on my intellect and my bending to carry her off of that ship and to keep her safe from them.

_Wait, what the hell am I thinking? _I stopped myself. _I can't go after her! I have to capture the _Avatar_ and restore my damned honor! I have no time for a water tribe peasant._

But, I ignored my better judgment. Screw it all, I was going to save her, whether my honor stayed with me or otherwise. I barely knew the girl, but I was plotting to save her. There must have been something wrong with me.

I got out of the water and steamed away the moisture from my skin, the sudden warmth once again setting my nerves at ease. I wrapped in my _zhiju,_ and made my way down my bedroom. I sat down at my desk once again, and began writing down ideas for rescuing this girl.

When I finished jotting down ideas, I pulled back and stretched my arms a bit. I looked down at my paper.

"What the hell…?" I asked myself, squinting in the dim light. On the paper, my notes had shaped into her gentle face, smiling up at me.

"Zuko," she whispered, her voice sweet, like honey. I rubbed my eyes. _I'm going insane._

"This can't be real," I whispered back.

"Zuko, aren't you coming to save me? I'm so lonely and afraid here. The pirates…they are so unkind and they…" I stopped the voice coming from the paper before it could continue.

"I'm working on it, okay?" I sighed. I looked down my notes, and found them in the orderly characters they had been before. My brain was reacting to lack of sleep, I knew it. I would just skip dinner and sleep early so I wouldn't disappoint Uncle again.

I stripped down to my _zhongyi_, and crawled onto my mat. The ship was steady that night, and – finally – sleep came easily for me.

My dreams were calm and full of light.

She looked up from where her head rested in my lap, her peaceful ocean eyes glinting in the sunlight. "It's so warm here," her honey-like voice sighed as a cherry blossom floated down into her dark hair.

"I know. It isn't too hot, is it?" I asked. My worry was that she would be uncomfortable in the heat, because she had grown up around ice.

Her laugh rang gleefully in my ears. "No, Zuko. It's perfect here. I love the sun," she smiled brilliantly.

"Mom," A little voice trilled. A boy with the brightest blue eyes scurried up to her, tugging her hand until she sat up. "Can we feed the turtle-ducks?"

She smiled again. "Of course," and she handed the boy a sliver of bread. "Don't throw them like you usually do; it hurts the ducks."

The boy ran off, laughing happily with the energy only a small child possesses.

/

Unconsciously, I smiled as I slept.

**A/N: So, that was my first attempt at writing as a guy. If he sounds gay or just really feminine, I apologize. I'm not very talented at writing as the opposite sex, but I tried. (: So, you may notice this chapter is late. Well, I can take some blame, but I have a right. I GOT ALMOST NO REVIEWS ON MY LAST CHAPTER! D: Oh, no! So, thus, no inspiration to write, my self-esteem all angry, etc… Yeah, I'm overreacting, I know, but I can see when you lovely people read my stuff, and it kind of murders a little part of me to know that you guys read it and then don't give me feedback… Eh, I'm ranting. Hope you liked reading my Zuko-ness, and until next time, stay nerdy! - Addie**


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